Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti praised Jude Bellingham for having the “balls” to reproach his teammate Vinicius Jr. during a 2-1 win over Celta Vigo on Saturday.
The visiting team from the Spanish capital managed the victory via goals from Kylian Mbappe and the Brazilian.
In his post-match press conference, Ancelotti was reminded about Bellingham having the chance to make it 2-0 but being denied by Vinicius who didn’t pass the ball to him.
Bellingham reproached the Ballon d’Or favourite for being greedy, but Ancelotti only saw positives in the exchange.
“I haven’t seen that play you’re talking about,” he said. “But if it has happened, it means that he has balls, character and it seems good to me. Honestly, I didn’t realize the play [had happened], I’ll watch it. But if he has reacted… Let’s be calm, after the game they were talking, laughing. They have no problems.”
Reflecting on a match that could have easily been lost or drawn given the amount of chances the hosts squandered, Ancelotti said the La Liga clash was “competitive, hard fought, and difficult”.
“The merit we have is that we always compete well, until the end. We could have played better, yes, but the group was committed and knew how to suffer, because Celta also competed well, with intensity.
“We took three important points thanks to a fantastic pass from [Luka] Modric [to Vincius]. It’s something normal for him, because of his enormous quality. Luka always contributes, whether he is a starter or coming off the bench. He has such great quality, that it always adds up.”
That being said about the team’s performance, Ancelotti found that it also lacked rhythm and intensity.
“In the first half we didn’t have a good balance and, despite Mbappe’s great goal, we suffered; but in the second half we improved defensively. When they equalized, the substitutions gave us new energy. It was a very important victory,” Ancelotti explained.
Currently level on points with the Catalans at the top of the table ahead of them taking on Sevilla, Madrid’s next La Liga outing will be El Clasico against bitter rivals FC Barcelona.